Greater New Orleans

The number of murders in New Orleans has dropped this year to a low not seen since 1971, Mayor Mitch Landrieu said Tuesday in a news conference touting his anti-violence initiatives and gang crackdowns that he and law-enforcement officials said are working.
(Naomi Martin, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

The number of murders in New Orleans has dropped this year to a low not seen since 1971, Mayor Mitch Landrieu said Tuesday in a news conference touting his anti-violence initiatives and gang crackdowns that he and law-enforcement officials said are working.

While unsettling acts of violence continue to make headlines -- including Monday's double murder of a woman and her adult daughter at their apartment complex and the shooting death of a high school student found stuffed in the trunk of a car -- the year is on pace to end with a record low number. The latest killings brought this year's total to 153 victims, compared to 181 murders this time the year before, Landrieu told reporters.

"It is good progress," Landrieu said. "It is something to be aware of. But it is not something to be comfortable with. We still have a very long way to go."

Landrieu attributed the decline in murders to his "NOLA for Life" violence-fighting initiative, which has included the sweeping racketeering indictments of 74 gang members from seven street gangs in the last year.

Flanked by federal and state law-enforcement officials including U.S. Attorney Kenneth Polite, Sheriff Marlin Gusman and Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas, Landrieu addressed the news media at District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro's office after the authorities had completed their fifth meeting, or "call-in," with dozens of gang members.

Such meetings are a hallmark of the strategy devised by prominent national criminologist David Kennedy with whom the mayor consulted to form "NOLA for Life." Kennedy's plan, which has seen good results in cities like Boston, New York and Philadelphia, is based on the premise that a disproportionate share of a city's violence is committed by a small amount of people who influence each other through gangs or groups. Authorities have identified 600 gang members in New Orleans.

The law-enforcement officials, including the heads of the FBI, DEA and ATF, have now met with 161 members from all 40 gangs that have been previously identified. The bulk of the gang members were on probation or parole at the time of the meeting; the rest were incarcerated.

"We let them know that we know who they are, where they live, who they hang out with, and we know more about them than they think," Landrieu said. "First we tell them that we care about them, that they're part of our community. But the violence has to stop."

The authorities warn the young men and women that they are prepared to bring to bear their full law-enforcement powers the next time anyone in their gang starts shooting. On the other hand, however, the ex-convicts are offered a chance to sign up for services, including education, vocational training, job placement and substance abuse counseling.

That idea has proved more popular in New Orleans than other cities, according to a Landrieu spokesman: 20 percent of those called in so far have signed up for services, which is more than double the percentage that other cities saw. Nine have jobs and 15 are in programs, said the spokesman, Tyler Gamble.

"It can be kind of scary with everybody from the police force there but I think the message that 'I care about you' is pretty profound, I think it goes a long way," said one of the service providers at the meeting, Lisa Fitzpatrick, of APEX Youth Center who also was the foster mother of Rakeen Holmes. Holmes, who was gunned down this year, was the father of murdered 2-year-old Keira Holmes.

For a community organizer based in Central City, the good statistics haven't meant meaningful change in many of the city's crime-ridden neighborhoods.

"The numbers just don't add up for me, from what I see every day," said Yvette Thierry, executive director of Safe streets/ Strong Communities. "For the African American community, we still feel like we're still losing too many of our young people on a daily basis."

She said she has not seen any programs in the poorest areas of the city and questioned whether the city's initiative was helping the neediest.

Neighborhoods held 'hostage'

In the last year, members of seven gangs have been taken off the streets through the wide-ranging indictments: MMG, 110'ers, 3-N-G, Ride or Die, Taliban, a Hollygrove gang and members of the family of slain child Brianna Allen, whose relatives have been indicted in a drug conspiracy.

The gang indictments were secured by the multi-agency gang unit, which is led by the New Orleans Police Department and includes investigators and prosecutors with Cannizzaro's office, the U.S. Attorney's Office, the FBI, the ATF, the DEA, State Police and the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office.

Cannizzaro's office has now deployed the state gang racketeering statute six times. Because it carries stiffer sentences, the statute can be helpful in pressuring defendants to plead guilty. However, previous district attorneys did not use it, Cannizzaro said.

"We're very proud of what we've done," Cannizzaro said.

While most of the cases are still in the beginning phases of prosecution, Cannizzaro pointed to his office's first gang case which he sees as a success. In late 2010, 11 members of the D-Block Gang were indicted. All but one of the defendants pleaded guilty and were sentenced to three to 15 years.

Defense attorneys, however, have criticized the gang indictments as a way to bolster otherwise weak cases.

While the number of murders is down, the number of non-fatal shootings has only slightly decreased. City data shows 298 people have been wounded in shootings through the end of October. Serpas characterized the year-to-date number as having decreased "a little." He added: "This is a long fight."

One high-ranking police officer who heads a union said city officials are taking credit for improvements in emergency medical services, including the work of trauma surgeons. "It's not crime reduction, it's the medical community that has improved," said NOPD Capt. Mike Glasser, president of the Police Association of New Orleans. That's a point not addressed Tuesday by city leaders.

While murders and non-fatal shootings have both dipped, there have been repeated instances of brazen violence across the city, including the Mother's Day secondline parade shooting that wounded 19 people and a number of shootings that wounded children, some while they were in the care of their parents or other adults.

The city's two youngest victims this year were 7-month-old Deshawn Kinard, killed alongside his father, and 1-year-old Londyn Samuels, who was in a babysitter's arms when at least one gunman opened fire. Arabian Gayles, 11, was also killed by bullets in the shooting that wounded her cousin of the same age.